Conventional snow blade mounts for four wheel drive vehicles such as pick-up trucks can weigh several hundred pounds, and generally include a chassis frame that can be permanently fixed to the vehicle chassis, usually behind the vehicle front bumper. A lift frame is then removably coupled to the chassis frame, and the snow blade is then coupled to the front end of the assembly via an A-frame and trip frame assembly. The A-frame with the snow blade attached is typically removable from the vehicle. Conventionally, the lift frame has been permanently mounted to the chassis frame (and therefore not readily removable from the vehicle), and the hydraulic pump used to operate the snow blade was located under the vehicle hood, and were driven using a belt drive driven by the vehicle engine. However, safety considerations now often dictate that the lift frame be removed when the plow is not in use. In addition, crash zones and barrier testing are altered by locating the electric/hydraulic pump under the vehicle hood in juxtaposition with the vehicle engine. Moreover, such a location is also no longer feasible since there is little room there to accommodate the pump, and since most vehicles today use a single serpentine belt, again eliminating the feasibility of driving the hydraulics with a belt driven by the vehicle engine. Accordingly, most snow blade mounts today locate the blade actuator drive assembly in front of the vehicle grill, slightly higher than the vehicle front bumper. This arrangement hinders air flow to the vehicle engine, often resulting in engine overheats.
One drawback of conventional snow blade mounts is the difficulty in readily removing the lift frame assemblies from the vehicle chassis, especially in view of their weight. To that end, U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,174 discloses a removable snowplow including a removable lift frame and A-frame combination. However, the lift frame assembly is permanently mounted to the A-frame, thus requiring removal of both simultaneously, as a unit. U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,530 is of a similar vein.
Conventional mounting systems utilize a pin arrangement, whereby the vehicle and mount assembly must be properly aligned prior to coupling the mount to the chassis with a pair of pins. This mounting and dismounting is difficult and tedious.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a snow blade mount and lift assembly for a vehicle that is easily attachable and removable from the vehicle.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a hydraulically operated snow blade and lift assembly for a vehicle that is attached and removed from the vehicle using a self-aligning hitch mount devoid of conventional mounting pins.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a snow blade hitch mount that includes a jack for lifting the assembly for proper vertical alignment with the vehicle chassis mount receiving plate.
The problems of the prior art have been overcome by the present invention, which provides a mount and lift assembly for hydraulically driven snow blades or other utilitarian accessories that includes a mount frame for mounting to the vehicle chassis and a one piece accessory assembly and lift frame readily removably coupled to the mount frame, the assembly in the case of a snow plow preferably including a blade trip frame and a snow blade removably coupled to the trip frame.